Climbing a tall mountain is no laughing matter, and neither is the sport of rock climbing. There is a full medical team on standby for professional rock climbers in case of an emergency. In contrast, free solo climbing involves ascending actual mountains or steep slopes without any protective gear. Alex Honnold created history in 2017 when, against all odds, he climbed the vertical rock structure El Capitan in Yosemite National Park while using just his hands and feet. Even with everything he has accomplished, there are some rock climbers who just blow Honnold away.

Training is the first topic of discussion in Alex Honnold’s recent conversation with Ryan Delvin. But when Delvin prodded, mentioning that there are rock climbers in their 50s and 60s, Honnold mentioned a 61-year-old professional climber he knows.

Proving age isn’t a stopping factor

The 61-year-old rock climber Bill Ramsey may not be a household name in the rock climbing world, but Honnold claims that his enthusiasm for the sport has not diminished with age. Routes with a difficulty rating of 5.1 to 5.8 are suitable for novice climbers, while those with a rating of 5.9 to 5.10d are considered intermediate. Climbing at a 5.13 level is considered the next level of difficulty for rock climbers. However, only highly trained professionals with years of expertise and excellent fitness should attempt a 5.14 or above. The 61-year-old that Honnold mentions is a 5.14 climbing specialist who doesn’t let his age slow him down.

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Honnold mentions how physically different Ramsey is from him, saying, “He has much stronger fingers than me, objectively, like he hangs with crazy amounts of weight.” The level of physical strain that the 61-year-old undergoes during his workouts stuns the rock climbing star. Honnold also makes a candid confession, saying, “I’m sort of like slightly embarrassing when you’re like, ‘Oh, I’m getting burned off by the 61-year-old’ but you know that’s Bill Ramsey; he’s an incredible climber.”

Shocking the rock climbing community

While many climbers may be unaware of Bill Ramsey, those who know what he’s capable of are not. Since he was a teenager, Ramsey has been committed to the sport, and his feelings for it haven’t changed. Ramsey is 61 years old, yet the daily training he endures would be terrifying for a young, enthusiastic athlete. “Mega-sessions” are what Ramsey calls his workouts. He begins this marathon workout with a standard warm-up and stretches for a whole hour. Beginning with weighted dead hangs using a fingerboard, he progresses to more challenging exercises.

His training schedule consists of seven repetitions of seven seconds of work followed by one minute of relaxation. To improve his lock-off strength, his next training session will have him using a weight vest on a system wall. Nonetheless, after all this preparation, he visits the climbing gym to test his skills on a number of boulder difficulties. He also engages in endurance training by way of the tread wall. After that, Ramsey returns to his regular weightlifting routine to complete his workout. To prepare for his marathon workouts, Ramsey also rests for two to three days.

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Alex Honnold may have accomplished more than the vast majority of his rock-climbing contemporaries. Yet he is nevertheless sometimes blown away by the feats of his competitors.